REVIEWS
Weatherby Vanguard
Boddington chimes in with his "two cents" on this bolt-action offering
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In a limited format, there are two basic steps to evaluating a tool as simple as a bolt-action sporter: Try different loads to see how it groups and what it likes, and take it hunting to see how it handles.
This particular rifle, a Weatherby Vanguard in .270 Winchester, came with a factory test target showing a tiny group measuring .519 of an inch, shot with Winchester 130-grain Power-Points, a fine big-game load. I could've fiddled with the bullets and the loads. Maybe I could do better, maybe I couldn't, but why would I need to?
A better answer seemed to be to take the Vanguard hunting, which I did. It was during August deer season along California's Central Coast with two of my good friends, and I had set aside three days to find a decent buck. The first afternoon was intended to be purely exploratory; I had literally just stepped off an airplane from Africa and hadn't even gone home.
August on the coast is usually brutally hot with few deer moving. But that particular afternoon was unseasonably cool, and I commented that it might be an exceptional evening. But we never got to evening. Fifteen minutes into the hunt we spotted two bucks going over a ridge. We followed up, and the two bucks turned into three, one an exceptionally wide and pretty three-by-three with eyeguards that nobody who has hunted the Central Coast would pass up. And I didn't.
So the rifle shoots well and takes game like, well, like any .270 Winchester. The Vanguard is intended to be an economical hunting tool. It employs a push-feed action with two-position safety ("safe" includes a bolt lock, which I like very much), but the action isn't a Weatherby Mark V action. Nor is the rifle marketed with the same options, the same level of finish or the same chamberings.
Historically, the Vanguard has been offered only in standard calibers while the Mark Vs have been available in Weatherby Magnum chamberings. But this has changed. Vanguards are now offered in .257 and .300 Wby. Mag. as well as .300 WSM, 7mm Rem. Mag., .300 Win. Mag. and .338 Win. Mag., plus several nonmagnum chamberings from .22-250 to .30-06, including, of course, .270 Winchester.
Barrels are 24 inches in length. Actions are right-hand. Models in all chamberings are Synthetic (blued) and Stainless. There are Weatherby Custom Shop options, including stocks in a variety of camo patterns, special crowns and finishes such as black Teflon and titanium nitride.
Dropped from the Weatherby line for a short period, the Vanguard returned with a straight-combed stock with rounded fore-end and molded checkering panels. This is the version I used, and it's a perfectly good handle except that it isn't "traditional Weatherby," an oversight that has been corrected in 2004 with an upgraded stock with the traditional Monte Carlo comb and rakish fore-end tip. The thinking is that the Vanguard is a Weatherby and should look like a Weatherby. I can't disagree.
Vanguard triggers are fully adjustable, but this one didn't need it, breaking nicely at a bit over three pounds. The action is smooth, with positive feeding, a good safety and superb gas-porting design in case of a catastrophic failure. This last is very unlikely; the Howa 1500 is a wonderfully strong action.
